Very often it is desirable to fly one or several brightly colored flags from the top of signs to attract attention to them. However, where the sign is of the flexible variety, it tilts when the force of the wind on the sign or any other force acts on it. The very tilting action which renders the sign useful also creates a problem in keeping the flags attached to the top of the sign. Some conventional flag staff holders are cylindrically shaped and the flag staff sits in the cylinder by the force of gravity. If the cylinder were to be tipped at an angle to vertical, for example in a strong wind, the wind force on the flag could pull the flag staff out of the holder. A set screw through the side of the cylindrical holder could be used, but such a structure is more expensive to manufacture than is necessary to do the job. Further, cylindrical holders can only be used for flag staffs which have a diameter less than the inside diameter of the holder.
It is advantageous to have a flag staff holder which can be used with flags having a wide range of flag staff sizes. Conical shaped staff holders can be used for such a purpose, but, because they contact the flag staff only at the location in the cone where the flag staff diameter equals the inside diameter of the cone, the grip of the holder on the flag staff is not very strong. This weakness of grip arises from the fact that the flag staff is contacted in only one place and the area of contact is relatively small. Thus the need arose for a flag staff holder that could be used on a windproof tilting sign for a wide variety of sizes of flag staffs but which securely held the flag staff even while the sign was tilted because of high winds or other forces acting on the sign.